Yachts with fully battened mainsails typically use battens of relatively rigid material, such as fiberglass, wood, and the like, positioned in batten pockets sewn in the mainsail. The battens and batten pockets extend horizontally from the trailing edge, or leech, to the forward edge, or luff, of the mainsail. The battens allow the sail to retain its shape in a variety of wind conditions and to flake more quickly and easily when lowered on a boom. More importantly, the battens support roach, the sail area that lies outside a straight line drawn from the head, the corner of the sail closest to the top of the mast, to the clew, the corner of the sail closest to the aft end of the boom. Roach enhances sailing performance by increasing the area of the sail and by changing the shape of the sail. Battens also prolong the life of the sail by reducing flogging in high wind or head to wind conditions.
Unfortunately, the wind captured by the sail to propel the yacht also pushes the battens against the forward edges of their respective batten pockets, causing the battens to poke through the luff end of the sail. Once the battens work through the batten pockets, the sail must be repaired or replaced. The battens also twist and compress the sail slides that keep the sail in the mast track, creating friction that impedes raising and lowering the sail. This friction can be great enough to lock the sail in the mast track and/or break the sail slides. Moreover, the forward end of the battens can move laterally past the sail slides and inwardly toward the mast, and can hit the mast and/or jam the bolt rope.
A variety of fittings for full batten mainsails have been proposed, including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,127,351 to Breems; 4,823,720 to Foster; 3,092,064 to Benedict; 591,446 to Worthen; and 259,209 to Rand. Typically, these batten end fittings have joints that couple the batten to the sail slide to eliminate friction between the sail slides and the mast track caused by twisting and compression of the battens. Such joints usually do not permit the battens to rotate freely in every dimension, nor do they completely eliminate friction between the slides and the mast due to torque and compression. Joints that permit three-dimensional rotation generally require complex, rigid mechanical connectors that must be mounted on specialized slides integral with the connectors themselves. Unfortunately, these prior-art batten end fittings cannot withstand the high forces exerted by fully compressed or torqued battens of the larger sails used on larger yachts.